World Press Digest

The Church Times of London, commenting on the latest ordinance in Turkey prohibiting clerical dress, says:

Only the Patriarchs of the Orthodox and Armenian Churches, the Moslem Grand Mufti, and the Jewish Grand Rabbi, are now allowed to appear in public in the robes that all clergy of the faiths in question have worn for centuries. The less-exalted must wear the ugly “reach-me-downs” that are an offence to the eye in the city that we must now call Istanbul.

The only people who now have the right to show their profession by their dress are the soldiers. All other distinctive uniforms are forbidden in obedience to the sacred principle of “laicisation.”

CALLS JEWS NATION’S ‘ECONOMIC CONSCIENCE’

The Belfast Telegraph, a daily newspaper in Belfast, reports the following:

The Italian Marshal Badoglio has created something of a stir by contributing an article to the Rome newspaper “Popolo di Roma” in praise of the Jews and extolling their services in preserving world civilization by creating the “economic conscience of the nation.”

The Marshal, who is not a Jew, declares that throughout the Middle Ages the persecution of the Jews forced them to accumulate their savings, which contributed materially to social developments. Without their aid civilization would not have achieved its greatest successes.

He defends the Jews against the charges of anti-patriotism and parasitism by recalling how many times they have come to the rescue of public authorities and extricated them from the most disastrous economic and political situations.

THE ZWEIG LIBRETTO AND THE NAZIS

The News Chronicle, in an editorial on Stefan Zweig’s libretto to Strauss’ last operetta, comments:

So Herr Stefan Zweigâ€”discreetly described as “the well-known Austrian author”â€”has been allowed to have his opera produced at Dresden, after all.

The Nazis have managed to overcome their objection to a Jewish librettist. Does the taint vanish if the words are sung by an “Aryan?” Or do not the words matter so long as the music is by an “Aryan” composer?